Allen’s Eagle Stadium -- a $60 million jewel rivaling college facilities -- may sit idle when the state champion football team kicks off its season next school year because of structural concerns.

Officials closed the stadium Thursday after extensive cracking and “other potential problems in the structure” were found along the concourse level. They declined to say what may be causing the cracks but said the issue was first discovered in August 2012, when the stadium opened, and has only gotten worse.

Interim Superintendent Beth Nicholas said the stadium was closed out of an abundance of caution during an engineering investigation of the facility, which is expected to be completed in June. The district said it is likely the problems would affect the fall football season.

Representatives from Pogue Construction, which built the facility, and the PBK architecture firm, which designed it, are in discussions with the district. Officials declined to say who would pay to correct problems, citing the ongoing investigation to determine what caused them.

For now, it seems the district and the companies are working together to fix the problem. An email from Nicholas to the board on Feb. 7 obtained through an open records request by The Dallas Morning News said, “The demand letter from our attorney was sent to both companies and they were given 30 days to respond.”

This week, Allen school trustees received an update from the engineering investigation, which is about 10 percent complete, that prompted the closure. Nicholas said the stadium was a significant investment for the community and said the structural issues are “unacceptable.”

“Our No. 1 priority must always be the safety of our students, staff and our community,” she said, adding, “We’re not happy about this. We want to get to the bottom of this because our taxpayers deserve this.”

The cracks range from a quarter-inch to three-quarters of an inch wide in sections of the concourse, said Ben Pogue, president and CEO of Pogue Construction. Tarps are covering the area to prevent water damage from seeping into other areas of the stadium.

Pogue said his firm is working on solutions but declined to say what those might include. However, he did say leveling the stadium would be unnecessary. He said his firm is also working with its concrete subcontractor, which he declined to identify.

He said concrete tends to crack for various reasons, including weather and shifting soil. But he would not elaborate on what he thought had caused the cracks.

“I’m optimistic that we’re going to have a quick resolve to this that will not affect the football season that’s coming up,” he said.

Pogue Construction is currently building Allen’s $32.5 million service center, which is also being examined. The construction firm has many schools and other public projects in the works across Texas. But Pogue said this is an isolated case.

The 18,000-seat stadium made national headlines when it debuted, with many critical of such extravagance at a time when the state was cutting funds to Texas public schools. But local voters had approved the facility as part of a 2009 bond package.

Allen officials said at the time that the stadium would be an economic boon by attracting high-profile events, such as the Texas vs. The Nation All Star Game held last year. Rental fees for school-related, UIL playoffs ranged from $4,000 to $5,000 plus 20 percent of gross gate sales, according to the district.

Now, major events already are being canceled. Officials are scrambling to find an alternative location for graduation. And with so much not known until June, it will be a challenge to find locations for home games if the stadium remains closed. The old football stadium has been used for nonvarsity football games and other sports.

Nicholas, who is overseeing the district until its new leader, Lawrence Hindt, begins next month, said the public should not lose confidence in the district and that this was an unforeseen event that officials are aggressively addressing.

Staff writers Julieta Chiquillo and Jeffrey Weiss contributed to this report.